Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford Tough Times in the

Jimmy Carter & Gerald Ford

Tough Times in the U. S. • Sept 8, 1974 Ford pardons Nixon • Good choice? • Economic issues • • OPEC causes oil prices to soar Whip Inflation Now falls through “Tight money” policy fails miserably Fighting Democrats in Congress

Better Luck Abroad Helsinki Accords • Agreements that promised cooperation between nations of Eastern and Western Europe • One of Ford’s biggest successes Southeast Asia • Cease-fire in Vietnam breaks down • US doesn’t send help and South Vietnam surrenders in 75 • Cambodia seizes merchant ship in Gulf of Siam and Ford responds with military force

Reign of Jimmy Carter Domestic Agenda • Energy Crisis • National Energy Act: tax on gasguzzling cars, no price controls on oil/gas in US, tax credits for alternative energy • Violence in 79 • Violence in Middle East led to fuel shortage and OPEC raised price • 14% inflation by 1980 • Changing Economy • Rise in service sector jobs and decrease in manufacture jobs Civil Rights • 28 African Americans, 29 women, 14 Latinos earn positions in judicial branch • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case

Reign of Jimmy Carter Foreign Policy • Rejected Realpolitik Middle East • • Israel withdraws from Sinai Peninsula and Egypt recognizes Israel • Promotes human rights throughout the world • No military aid to US allies Argentina and Brazil • Gives up control of Panama Canal wise decision? • SALT II Camp David Accords • Iran Hostage Crisis • Iranians resented shah • Carter supported shah over Ayatollah Khomeini • Armed students took 52 American hostages at US embassy in Tehran • Hostages released in 1981 when Reagan sworn in

Questions to Consider • How might the country have been different if former US president had gone on trial for criminal wrongdoing? • If you had been in President Ford’s position, would you have pardoned Nixon? Why or why not? • Do you agree with the ruling set forth by Regents of the University of California v. Bakke?

Environmental Activism • Energy Crisis led people to a heightened sense of environmentalism; could not take the Earth for granted • 1962: Rachel Carson and Silent Spring • Argued that pesticides were killing off birds and fish • April 22, 1970 • Environmental Protection Agency: set and enforce pollution standards, conduct environmental research and assist state/local gov’t in pollution control

Environmental Activism Alaska • Discovery of Oil in 1968 • With new jobs created, people were concerned about Alaska’s wildlife • Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 71 Nuclear Energy • Drawbacks of dependence on foreign oil made nuclear energy appealing • Three Mile Island • Reactor over-heated and cooling system failed • 100, 000 residents evacuated